BioWare Co-Founders Retire from Company

Share.

Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuck step down to face “an entirely different set of challenges."

By Andrew Goldfarb

BioWare co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuck have retired from the company. In blog posts released on BioWare’s official site, both men explained how they came to the decision and what they’ll be moving on to next.

“After nearly two decades in video games, I’ve decided to move on to pursue an entirely different set of challenges,” Muzyka wrote. “This has been an incredibly difficult decision to make; after thinking about it for many months, I made the decision to retire from video games back in early April 2012 – at that time I provided six months’ notice to EA, to help enable a solid transition for my teams at BioWare.” “After nearly twenty years working at BioWare I’ve decided it’s time to move on and pursue something new,” Zeschuk said separately. “This decision isn’t without significant pain and regret, but it’s also something I know I need to do, for myself and my family. I’ve reached an unexpected point in my life where I no longer have the passion that I once did for the company, for the games, and for the challenge of creation.”

“I feel the need now to move on to a new chapter in my career,” Muzyka explained. “With the growth of BioWare to multiple locations as part of a public company, following two decades of multiple successful product launches across many platforms and business models, I’ve largely personally achieved what I wanted in videogames; I now desire to take on a brand new entrepreneurial challenge. I am also spending more time learning about the work being done to defend human rights and civil liberty across the world. Net, I am passionate about both entrepreneurship and social liberty, and I want to find a way to pursue both of them.”

“I’m not going to be working in games for a while, and there’s a strong possibility that I won’t be back,” Zeschuk wrote. “After my departure I’m going to be spending significant time with family and friends, as well as pursuing some personal passion-driven projects related to craft beer. The main project I will be working on is a web-based interview show called The Beer Diaries where I interview notable brewers and showcase their beers. If things go well, I’ll work on other beer-related shows, apps and projects. If not, I’ll have drunk a lot of tasty beers and may be back in games or even something else completely different. Ultimately time will tell.”

“I remain passionate about video games – they’ll definitely remain one of my favorite hobbies,” Muzyka said. “I see tremendous opportunity ahead for BioWare and its parent company Electronic Arts.”

Both Zeschuk and Muzyka go on to thank many of the people they’ve worked with over the years, including each other. You can find Muzyka’s full statement here and Zeschuk’s here.

Meanwhile, BioWare Edmonton and Montreal general manager Aaryn Flynn released his own statement looking forward to the future of BioWare. “I know this might be concerning for some of you but the leaders at BioWare have had some time to think about it – to think about how the games, the fans, and the creative teams would move on without the two guys who started this organization back in 1995,” Flynn wrote. “We – including Ray and Greg – think the studio is solid and the team here is ready to embark on a whole new era of games.”

Flynn also hinted at “brand new games from BioWare” in the future, adding “Both Dragon Age and Mass Effect started as single games but grew into vast universes. But we aren’t stopping there. While Casey continues to oversee the development of our new Mass Effect project, he and his leads are putting together their vision for an all new game set in a fictional universe, built from the bottom-up with all new gaming technology.”

Flynn’s full statement is available here, including his thoughts for the departing doctors. For more from both Muzyka and Zeschuck, check out our extensive interview with both. IGN wishes the best of luck to both Muzyka and Zeschuck in their future endeavors.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.